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REVIEW – Ghoulies

Christian Sellers — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 00:03:32 +0000

Following a stint as a bit-part actor, Luca Bercovici decided to make the leap to directing with the 1985 horror Ghoulies, which would see him once again collaborate with cult producer Charles Band. Often dismissed as a rip-off of Joe Dante’s creature feature Gremlins (as would Stephen Herek’s Critters, released the following year), the low budget fantasy would become a surprise hit and would help launch the reputation of John Carl Buechler and his special effects workshop Mechanical and Makeup Imageries. The movie would eventually spawn three sequels, although only the first would come close to the popularity of the original, which would be produced at the height of Band’s Empire success.

Having almost been sacrificed as a baby, Jonathan Graves (Peter Liapis) has no memory of his parents or former life when he inherits a derelict mansion from his family. Moving in with his girlfriend, Rebecca (Lisa Pelikan), he decides to quit school so that he can fix up the house and discover the truth about his parents. But he soon becomes obsessed with black magic and incantations, eventually summoning up a horde of dangerous creatures from the other side. He then commands two dwarves, Grizzel (Peter Risch) and Greedigut (Tamara De Treaux), to do his every bidding and help him in his quest for power. But Rebecca grows concerned as his behaviour changes but he refuses to allow anyone or anything to stand in his way.

Ghoulies was typical of the kind of products that were produced by Empire during the 1960s. Other efforts from the studio would include Buechler’s Troll, Trancers and Cellar Dweller, although the occasional gem (such as Stuart Gordon’s Re-Animator) would sneak through. Ghoulies had been conceived by Bercovici and co-writer Jefery Levy shortly after Bercovici had worked as an actor for Band on the 3D movie Parasite. Shot on an extremely low budget, the restrictions that the filmmakers faced is evident in every frame of the movie, with the disappointing visual effects highlighting the issue and making the film extremely dated.

Whilst setting the story in one location would help keep the cost of the production down, it would also bring down the pace of the movie and cause it to drag in places. The majority of the cast lack any kind of charisma and their characters seem somewhat irrelevant, making their deaths even more so. It is also a shame that it takes so long for the ghoulies to move centre stage, although overplaying them is a mistake the sequels would make. The plot is ridiculous and the first half of the movie certainly becomes stale, but Liapis’ camp performance (he would return to the role for Ghoulies IV a decade later) keeps it all from falling apart.

Where the movie does score major points is with the creature effects, designed by Empire regular Buechler. As with Troll, which would appear soon afterwards, his talent for prosthetics and fantasy is unbeatable and gives the film an ‘80s charm. Richard Band, who would be another regular to the studio and brother of the owner, gives another tongue-in-cheek score that gives the film an element of fun. All in all, Ghoulies is not one of the better B-movies from the era but it is certainly not the worst. Above average, but definitely worth checking out for fans of schlock.

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REVIEW – Tremors

Christian Sellers — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 23:48:51 +0000

Somewhere in between his days as a Bratpacker and critically acclaimed character actor, Kevin Bacon starred in Tremors, a light-hearted throwback to the 1950s-style b-movies in which small-town American is laid under siege by strange creatures. With special effects having advanced considerably during the 1980s, monster flicks had become somewhat commonplace: from the grindhouse-style cheapies of Basket Case to the tongue-in-cheek romps of Critters. Marking the feature debut of writer-director Ron Underwood (who would return to the western feel with the blockbuster City Slickers the following year), Bacon appeared alongside Fred Ward, the cult star of Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, in a horror that focused as much on the laughs as it did on the gore. The movie would prove successful enough to launch its own franchise, resulting in two sequels and a prequel.

In the remote town of Perfection, Nevada, handymen Valentine McKee (Bacon) and Earl Bassett (Ward) dream of a more fruitful and rewarding life than collecting garbage and fixing fences. Bored with the monotony of their lives, they decide that they are going to head to the big city to seek their fortune, but on their way out of town these discover the body of one of the locals, who seems to have died from dehydration after hiding up a pylon for several days. They soon find the remains of a strange snake-like creature attached to the back of their truck and when they attempt to make their way to the city for help they realize that the road is closed. With the assistance of Rhonda LeBeck (Finn Carter) a college student studying seismology readings in the area, they find out that the real monsters are large worms that hunt their prey with sound and attack them from under the ground.

With the 1980s being ruled by zombie flicks and slasher movies, Tremors was a welcome relief and, much like the work of Joe Dante, was a playful homage to the creature features of the 1950s. Shot on a modest budget in the Californian deserts by a first-time filmmaker, Tremors could easily have been a disaster. The premise is ludicrous enough that the film could slipped into self parody and stupidity, like all too many too many movies that walk the fine line between horror and comedy do. For all its humour, Underwood chose to take the horror aspects seriously and in doing so created monsters that are genuinely unnerving-yet-intriguing. The effects are convincing but the director is smart enough not to show them too much, as once the viewer becomes familiar with the monster they cease to be effective.

One of the most impressive aspects of the movie is the cast, who manage to play the laughs just right without becoming irritating. Both Bacon and Ward make an excellent double act (the reason Tremors 2: Aftershocks failed to impress was that Bacon was absent), constantly playing off each other whilst also working well in the action sequences. Carter, as the naïve student who is forced to man-up in order to survive, is equally impressive, proving both likeable and entertaining. The supporting cast are made up of a host of b-movie talents, including Victor Wong (Big Trouble in Little China), Charlotte Stewart (Twin Peaks), Ariana Richards (I’m Gonna Git You Sucka), country singer Reba McEntire and Michael Gross, who not only took over the franchise from Ward but also starred in the small screen spin-off.

The script (by S.S. Wilson and Brent Maddock, and based on a story co-written by Underwood) is well paced and includes plenty of colourful characters to help keep the humour coming in between each set piece. Gross in particular as defense-obsessed Burt Gummer never fails to entertain, using his extensive arsenal to combat the monsters, aided by his equally unhinged wife Heather (McEntire). Wong (who also appeared in The Golden Child and John Carpenter’s Prince of Darkness) is his usually hammy self, overplaying the cheese factor in a way that makes him hard to dislike, whilst Bobby Jacoby plays the annoying kid Melvin this side of unbearable. None of the performances are particularly weak, particularly as this is hardly Shakespeare, but each actor manages to bring something memorable to their roles.

This is not to say that Tremors is without its faults. With it working as an homage to old b-movies, it shares the same kind of shortcomings, but it is too fast-paced and entertaining to attract too much criticism. Tremors is aware of its flaws and in some ways even celebrates them, and the filmmakers are too focused on making sure its audience has a good time that you cannot take the material too seriously. Tremors does exactly what it says on the tin and does not make the mistake of outstaying its welcome (coming in at an easy ninety minutes). It remains fun throughout without any sequences that seem to be added as ‘fillers,’ instead keeping the tension, action and laughs coming thick and fast, delivered by a cast who are aware of just how dumb the movie really is. Highly recommended!

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REVIEW – Gremlins

Christian Sellers — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 20:45:14 +0000

With Christmas almost upon us and families ready to celebrate the festive spirit together, horror fans may be tempted to celebrate Yuletide in their own special way. Arguably the most offbeat and enjoyable of these alternative Christmas classics was Gremlins, the commercial breakthrough for former editor and Roger Corman alumni Joe Dante. Having already enjoyed minor success with The Howling in 1981, Dante teamed up with producer Steven Spielberg and writer Chris Columbus (later known for his work on Home Alone) to create a juvenile creature feature that, as was common with his work, poked fun at the classics whilst also blending horror with the blackest of humour. Forced to compete with Ghostbusters at the box office, Gremlins was a huge success and helped pave the way for an above-average sequel, whilst Dante would continue to subvert the genre with the likes of InnerSpace and The ‘burbs.

Travelling through Chinatown on his way home to be with his family, struggling inventor Randall Peltzer (Hoyt Axton) stops off at an old antique store and becomes immediately fascinated with a cute creature called Gizmo; a mogwai which the owner is reluctant to sell due to the enormous responsibilities that come with it. Desperate for the money, the owner’s grandson sells Gizmo to Randall and he takes it home to give to his son, Billy (Zach Galligan), for an early Christmas present. But when his next door neighbour, Pete (Corey Feldman), accidentally spills water on it, Gizmo spawns several small eggs that soon grow into more mogwai. But there is something different about these ones and Gizmo finds himself isolated and depressed as they begin to cause mischief. But once they eat after midnight, they transform into deadly monsters that proceed to turn his small town upside down.

Dante has always made it his trademark to reference the classics, yet with Gremlins he even manages to pay homage to himself. During the sequence in which Billy’s science teacher (Glynn Turman) finds himself alone in the classroom as a newly hatched gremlin stalks him from the shadows is similar to a scene from The Howling when Dee Wallace Stone was chased by a werewolf. Gremlins has often been criticized for its excessive violence and soiling of the Christmas image, yet it is this evil streak that makes the movie so appealing, avoiding the usual Disney sickness is favour of a violent black comedy. It is perhaps even more ironic that footage from Disney’s animated classic Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs is playing during the scene when the creatures have taken refuge in an old cinema. The shot of them singing along to Heigh-Ho whilst subjecting each other to slapstick violence is one of the movie’s highlights.

One of Gremlins‘ many strengths is in the casting, with Galligan proving to be a likeable hero, whilst ’80s beauty Phoebe Cates was adorable as his girlfriend, Kate. Dante also brought in Corman regular Dick Miller for the minor role of local eccentric Murray Futterman, having previously worked with him on Piranha and The Howling (Miller would subsequently cameo in every one of Dante’s movies, returning to the role of Mr. Futterman in 1990’s Gremlins 2: The New Batch). Amongst the supporting cast were Judge Reinhold (who had worked with Cates on the 1982 comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High) as Billy’s pompous rival Gerald Hopkins, blaxploitation veteran Glynn Turman and child star Feldman, who would appear in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter the same year, before later finding success with The Goonies, Stand By Me and The Lost Boys.

The gremlins themselves are an inspired creation, with the mogwai being cuddly and innocent, before suddenly transforming into scaly monsters that manage to be both humorous and scary. These compliment the tone of the film perfectly, with Dante managing to balance the use of horror and humour to perfection, never reducing the film to simple parody. This is something that he was not quite as successful with when making the sequel, but there are some sequences here that are hilarious, whilst others (such as the climax) are disgusting enough to make their way into an adult horror. Thankfully there is none of Spielberg’s sugar-coated influence in the movie (as would be present in the otherwise excellent adventure yarn The Goonies the following year), and the film remains somewhat sinister throughout. Even the ending is not ruined by the producer, with Spielberg renowned for not giving his movie’s a satisfying conclusion.

For the last thirty years, Dante has delivered an array of cult classics (Piranha, InnerSpace) and underrated gems (The Explorers, Matinee), yet Gremlins stands as his crowning achievement. Entertaining and funny enough to work as a mainstream movie, dark and gory enough to be a horror, and savage enough to pass itself off as a satire, Gremlins is everything a good movie should be and is one of the best examples of how to successfully blend comedy and horror together. Whilst Black Christmas was creepy, Silent Night, Deadly Night was violent and Jack Frost was cheesy, Gremlins is arguably the finest festive horror ever and thanks to Dante’s direction, the charming cast and the convincing creations that were the gremlins, this is still as entertaining as it was back in 1984.

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REVIEW – Curse of the Fly

Christian Sellers — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 13:22:29 +0000

Taking a chance of pace from its predecessors, 1965’s Curse of the Fly was the second sequel to Kurt Neumann 1958 b-movie classic and saw the series move in a new direction. Gone is Vincent Price and instead the cast is filled with barely recognizable actors. Some viewers were confused with the connections that these characters had to the previous movies, with no mention of Phillipe, the child from the first movie who had grown up to be the protagonist of Return of the Fly the following year. Instead, there were still references to Andre Delambre (the central character from the original), which would indicate that this story was based around the same characters, but instead it is stated that Andre’s son is called Henri (which, in fact, was Phillipe’s name in the original short story). Over forty years later and Curse of the Fly has finally been rediscovered, allowing fans to assess if after all this time it is worthy of the name ‘The Fly.’

Smashing through a window, a beautiful young woman, Patricia Stanley (Carole Gray), escapes from a mental institution in nothing but her underwear and flees from the grounds. Making his way home, Martin Delambre (George Baker) sees her run across the road in front of him and into the bushes and so stops to offer her assistance. Lending her his coat, he drives her to town and pays for a hotel room, before giving her some money for her to buy some clothes so she can look for a job. They soon marry and Martin decides to bring Patricia home to Quebec so she can meet his father, Henri (Brian Donlevy). Unknown to her, however, Henri and both of his sons have been experimenting with a teleportation device that Andre had created many years earlier and have successfully sent Henri to London on several occasions, although lacerations on his skin indicate some side effects. In the stables outside are the victims of previous experiments who have been left deformed, including Martin’s wife, Judith (Mary Manson).

Curse of the Fly was directed by Australian filmmaker Don Sharp, whose previous work had included several movies for Hammer (such as The Kiss of the Vampire and, in 1966, Rasputin: The Mad Monk). His experience in gothic horror lends a stylish and unnerving atmosphere to the movie, something that makes it stand out immediately from its predecessors. Although was no longer involved in the series, the film still succeeds in delivering the goods and avoids simply rehashing the events of the previous films. Fans may have been confused by the change of character names (it could be that screenwriter Harry Spalding was more familiar with George Langelaan’s original short story than the films that were inspired by it), but it is clear from what is revealed in the dialogue that this is the third generation to have experimented with the transportation device.

The first two movies were classics of the genre and succeeded in being both interesting and eerie, but both suffered from the same flaw that would threaten to reduce the film to parody: when the protagonist completed his transformation, the special effects were simply an actor wearing a fly’s head, something that looked ridiculous, even more so half a century on. Thankfully, Curse of the Fly decided to take the concept in a new direction, with Martin having inherited the fly gene and suffers from an illness in which he ages rapidly and is forced to take frequent injections to subside it. The one continuity error, however, is that if Henri is the same character as Phillipe then how come the only genetic flaws that he appears to have are from his recent experiments and not the ones he conducted I the previous movie.

Curse of the Fly also benefits from some strong and likeable performances, most notably from Gray, who is both sexy and sympathetic as the tragic heroine. Sadly, Gray never had much of a prolific screen career, with roles in the likes of The Young Ones, Devils of Darkness and Island of Terror being her other notable appearances. Had she found stronger roles she could have become something more, as she demonstrated both the looks and charisma of Hollywood star. Baker also gives a good turn as the thoughtful-yet-haunted hero, determined to complete his grandfather’s work in an effort to better humanity for future generations. Baker would later become a fixture of British television, as well as enjoying minor appearances in Goodbye, Mr. Chips, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service and The Spy Who Loved Me.

opening credits to the beautiful tune that Patricia plays on the piano. Late Russian composer Bert Shefter had previously worked on the 1958 b-movie It! The Terror from Beyond Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and the Vincent Price thriller The Last Man on Earth (the first adaptation of Richard Matheson’s I Am Legend), but Curse of the Fly ranks amongst his best. It perfectly compliments each scene, indicating to the viewer whether to be scared or relax. The black and white cinematography (whilst the original had been shot in colour, Return of the Fly had resorted to B&W and so Sharp followed suit), courtesy of Basil Emmott (whose career went as far back as 1921), gives the movie an immediate sense of unease, yet also somehow seems seductive.

Unfortunately, Curse of the Fly failed to gain the recognition that the first two movies received and was considered lost for many years. Avoiding the disappointing special effects of The Fly, this manages to make the concept all the more convincing, with Martin and Henri’s failed experiments locked away like some kind of freak show. Succeeding in working as a stand-alone movie, Curse of the Fly is a very underrated classic that deserves to be rediscovered by fans of b-movies. From its dramatic score to the central performances from Gray and Baker, fans of the original will not be disappointed. A lost gem and well worth tracking down (it is available in the box set), Curse of the Fly is arguably superior to its predecessors.

Purchase Curse of the Fly here:

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